New books about black history

February 1, 2005

Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves, by Adam Hochschild, Houghton Mifflin, $26.95. Twelve men launched the movement that eventually abolished slavery in England (reviewed Jan. 11).

The Lost German Slave Girl: The Extraordinary True Story of the Slave Sally Miller and Her Fight for Freedom, by John Bailey, Atlantic Monthly Press, $24. A New Orleans slave became a cause célèbre in 1843 when her relatives claimed she was actually a kidnapped German immigrant (reviewed Jan. 25).

Sarah's Long Walk: How the Free Blacks of Boston and their Struggle for Equality Changed America, by Stephen and Paul Kendrick, Beacon Press, $26. Sarah's father sued Boston in 1848 because his daughter had to walk past five white schools to reach the one set aside for blacks (review coming later this month).

Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws That Changed America, by Nick Kotz, Houghton Mifflin, $26. Tapes released from the Johnson Library inform this history of LBJ's partnership with King to promote civil rights (review coming later this month).